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Indonesian President to Declare Emergency if Compromise Fails
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid Sunday said that he would only impose a state of emergency if major political parties and legislative bodies failed to reach an appropriate compromise with him.
Speaking at a student discussion at the Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta, the president elaborated that he was willing to compromise under certain conditions, including a stipulation that he would not have to deliver a statement of accountability at the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
"I will only issue an emergency decree if compromise fails. If there is an appropriate compromise, we will work things out bit by bit," he was quoted by the Jakarta Post.com online news service as saying.
The president previously said that if the compromise fails, he will declare an emergency state at 18:00 local time on July 20.
Wahid told the students that the dissolution of the legislative bodies and an accelerated general election were among the measures that would be taken under a state of emergency.
"But in order to impose this, other elements, that is, the police and the military, must support such a move," he added.
The president also accused his opponents of trying to stage a coup against his government.
"I can be impeached, but impeachment without strong evidences (and) based simply on which side has the majority (in the parliament) has to be challenged. That is a political coup d'etat, " he said.
The MPR, the country's highest legislative body, was scheduled to convene a special session on August 1 to hear an accountability speech by Wahid for his 20-month rule and consider ousting him.
The president maintains that the MPR does not have the constitutional right to demand an accounting for a head of state before the end of the five-year presidential term.
Constitutionally, the president can only be removed from office if lawmakers determine he has committed treason or engaged in other criminal activities.
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